Well trap drain for refrigerator cars



March 15, 1938. ZANE I 2,110,927

WELL TRAP DRAIN FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Filed April 21, 1937 Y awdzdzarze,

Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,110,927 WELL TRAP DRAIN FORREFRIGERATOR CARS Edward Zane, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Union RailwayEquipment Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of South DakotaApplication April 21, 1937, Serial No. 138,170

Claims.

The trap of the present invention is secured to the under side of thecar floor in position to coact with the down spout of a drip pan on theinterior of the car, and to provide a water seal 5 within the trap whichserves to prevent the ingress of air to the interior of the car. Thedrip is so constructed as to maintain itself in normal sealing positionbut is adapted to be easily'tilted to discharge the water therefrom whenit is desired to clean out the spout or bowl, 'or as occasion mayrequire; and the device is so constructed as to accommodate itself. tocarsirrespective of variations in the thickness of the floor withoutimpairment of the sealing functions of the device.

Further objects and details of the invention will appear from adescription thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,where-Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the well trap drain of the presentinvention secured to the bottom of a refrigerator car or the like; i

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device.

The well trap comprises a bowl ID of circular cup-shaped formationprovided on its outer upper margin with an outwardly extending slopingdrain spout I I having side walls I2 which at their inner ends mergeinto the curved side walls of the bowl. The bowl on its inner side hassecured thereto a counterweight of which abuts against the curving wallof the bowl, and the counterweight is provided with forwardly extendinglugs l5 which bear against the side walls of the bowl and are securedthereto by bolts l6 entered through upper and lower lugs ll outstandingfrom the wall of the bowl, or in any other suitable manner.

Above the counterweight the wall of the bowl on its rear edge isprovided with an elevated, overhanging, inturned flange 18 having formedthereon a pair of spaced lugs I9 which extend forwardly and pivot upon apintle 20 which is entered through ears 2| inwardly projecting from thewall of a cylindrical hood 22, the lower end of which enters the bowl,and which above its lower end is provided with a flat skirt 23 whichseats upon the upper marginof the bowl and underlies the overhangingflange l8 which is held against it by the counterweight when the bowl iselevated. The upper end 24 of the hood is of enlarged diameter andprovided with radially extending lugs 25 which are secured to the bottom26 of a car by means of bolts 21 or equivalent attaching means. T e o othe car is bored IS, the inner face It to receive a down spout 28, theupper end of which communicates with a drain aperture in the floorof adrip pan 29 on the interior of the car, and the lower end of whichenters the enlarged upper end 24 of the hood. 5

The arrangement is one which affords a well or pocket surrounding thelower end of the hood 22, so that, as drainage accumulates in the bowl,.it will rise above the lower end of the hood and thus constitute awater seal against the inflow of air tothe interior of the car, which isimportant, in the case of refrigerator cars, in order to maintain thedesired low temperatures therein. The elevation of the inner end of thedrain'spout l l is such as to afford a sufiiciently deep seal for l ,thehood, and at the same time to permit the ready discharge by overflow ofwater accumulating within the drain trap.

The provision of the counterweight serves to maintain the bowl in itsnormal or elevated re- 20 lation, but when itis desired to empty thebowl for cleaning, or otherwise, the bowl will be tilted to the dottedline position, which permits the interior to be easily cleaned and alsoaffords uninterrupted access to the lower end of the hood to 25facilitate the cleaning thereof. As soon as the bowl is released fromthe open position, it will swing back to scaling position and thusmaintain itself with its upper margin in sealing contact with theskirted rim of the hood.

The present invention is one which may be very easily secured torefrigerator cars of any standard construction, and of any depth orthickness of floor, since it merely requires the drilling of a holethrough the floor for the purpose of 35 locating the down spout, whichtelescopes into the upper end of the hood irrespective of the thicknessof the floor; and since the remainder of the structure is securedexteriorly of the car, no further cutting of the car floor is requiredin flt- 40 ting the well trap drain in position. By employing a bowl andhood which constitute a selfcontained unit, the depth of the seal willbe maintained constant regardless of the depth to which the down spoutprojects into the bowl, so that 45 the seal thus afforded can be fittedto any car regardless of the floor thickness.

Furthermore, the location of the device exteriorly of the car greatlyfacilitates the cleaning operation from the outside of the car, wheth-50 er the car be loaded or empty, which involves a decided advantage incomparison with structures which are only accessible from the interiorof the car.

Although the invention has been described 55 with particularity as todetail, it is not the intention to limit the same to exactly the formshown, since modifications therein may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a down spout for refrigerator cars or the like, ahood into the upper end of which the down spout projects, a bowlsurrounding the lower end of the hood and normally adapted to afiord awater seal therefor, a skirt outwardly projecting fromthe hood above itslower end and adapted when the bowl stands elevated to abut against theupper margin thereof to aiford a closure for the bowl, and a drain spoutfor the bowl located above the lower end of the hood to maintain a waterseal.

2. In combination with a down spout for refrigerator cars or the like, ahood into the upper end of which the down spout projects, a bowlsurrounding the lower end of the hood and normally adapted to afiord awater seal therefor, a skirt outwardly projecting from the hood aboveits lower end and adapted when the bowl stands elevated to abut againstthe upper margin thereof to afford a closure for the bowl, a drain spoutfor the bowl located above the lower end of the hood to maintain a waterseal, and means forhinging the bowl to the hood to bowl to be tilteddownwardly.

3. In combination with a down spout for refrigerator cars or the like, ahood into the upper end of which the down spout projects, a bowlsurrounding the lower end of the hood and normally adapted to afford awater seal therefor, a skirt outwardly projecting from the hood aboveits lower end and adapted when the bowl stands elevated to abut againstthe upper margin thereof to afford a closure for the bowl, a drain spoutfor the bowl located above the lower end of the hood to maintain a Waterseal, means for hinging the bowl to the hood to permit the bowl topermit the bowl hingedly secured to the hood in position to bring thelower end of the hood within the confines of the bowl, a drain spoutlaterally projecting from the bowl at proper elevation to normallymaintain a water seal around the lower end of the hood, a skirtoutwardly projecting from'the hood and adapted when, the bowl iselevated to afford an abutment against which the upper margin of thebowl, contacts to close the bowl and a counterweight on the bowl fornormally holding the bowl in elevated relation and permitting the bowlto be tilted to afford access to the interior thereof.

5. In combination with a down spout for refrigerator cars or the like, aself-contained unit comprising a cylindrical hood and means for securingthe hood to the floor of a car in position to receive the lower end .ofthe down spout, a bowl hinge-dly secured to the hood in position tobring the lower end of the hood within the confines of the bowl, aninturned overhanging flange along the rear upper margin of the bowl, askirt outwardly projecting from the hood in position to normallyunderlie the overhanging flange and overlie and abut against the uppermargin of the bowl, a drain spout laterally projecting from the bowl atproper elevation to normally maintain a water seal around the lower endof the hood, and a counterweight secured to the bowl in position tonormally hold the drain spout elevated and to hold the bowl incontacting relation with the skirt to maintain the water seal.

.- EDWARD ZANE.

